First Warsaw

First Warsaw Golf & Country Club is the most historically important club in Poland’s recent history as, back in the early 1990s, it was the first (as it’s name suggests) to begin the process of establishing Poland as a modern Central European golfing centre. Where First Warsaw led in those early post-Communist days, many clubs have since followed.

First Warsaw was designed by Swedish architect Jan Sederholm (who has many top Scandinavian courses to his name, including Larvik in Norway, Espoo in Finland, Himmerland (PGA New) in Denmark and Bokskogens (Old) in Sweden) and the 18-hole layout sits just to the north of the Polish capital.

It’s laid out in 155 acres of prime parkland, routed through stands of mature trees and around several large lakes that lie on the floodplain of the River Vistula. Indeed water comes into play at almost half the holes on the card (most of these are on the front nine) and with fairways being tight, by all means hit it long here but more importantly, hit it straight!

In First Warsaw’s relatively short history, the club has hosted three European Challenge Tour events, the 1996 Polish Open and consecutive Warsaw Golf Opens in 1998 and 1999. The 1999 Warsaw Open resulted in Niclas Fasth claiming the title.